In January 2026, foreign investors returned to net selling status on the Vietnamese stock market, with a total net selling value of about 6,700 billion VND. By exchange, foreign investors net sold on all three exchanges, including HoSE (5,929 billion VND), HNX (87 billion VND) and UPCoM (690 billion VND).
In January 2026, stocks in the Real Estate and Chemicals sectors were net sold the most by foreign investors with values of more than 6,700 billion VND and more than 1,400 billion VND respectively, led by VHM stock (net sold 2,100 billion VND).
In the opposite direction, stocks in the Information Technology and Oil and Gas groups were net bought the most by foreign investors, with net buying values of more than 1,400 billion VND and 1,000 billion VND, of which MBB stock (1,400 billion VND) was the stock net bought the most by foreign investors.
Entering the first week of February 2026, this is also the week the stock market had a strong correction and foreign investors also net sold strongly this week with a value of up to more than 6,100 billion VND. However, before the market took the Lunar New Year holiday, foreign investors suddenly reversed positive trading and net bought correspondingly reaching 3,464.6 billion VND.
Not only in the Vietnamese market, foreign capital also recorded strong net withdrawal in Southeast Asia. In January 2026, foreign investors switched to net selling in most Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia with a net selling value of 575 million USD. In addition, foreign investors also net sold 209 million USD in the Thai market and 208 million USD in the Indonesian market.
According to VNDirect Research, foreign capital is showing signs of returning to net selling in the region amid the FED's decision to temporarily suspend interest rate cuts at the January 2026 session, maintaining a tough stance in the face of inflationary pressure that has not yet reached the target level.
In addition, geopolitical tensions and profit-taking pressure after the growth period at the end of 2025 have caused foreign investors to restructure capital flows, shifting from risky assets in Southeast Asia to safer markets.
VNDirect's analysis team believes that the trend of the USD is a variable to be monitored. In the first month of the year, the Dollar Index continued to maintain a downward trend, recording a decrease of about 1.2% compared to the beginning of 2026. The continued adjustment of the Dollar Index also helps the USD/VND exchange rate cool down. Currently, the USD/VND exchange rate recorded a decrease of about 0.2% compared to the beginning of 2026.
On the international level, although temporarily stopping interest rate cuts in January 2026, the analysis group still maintains expectations that the Fed will implement 2 more waves of interest rate cuts in 2026 (which may start from mid-year), bringing interest rates back to the 3.0% - 3.25% range. Accordingly, VNDirect forecasts that the Dollar Index will remain at a low level, helping to reduce pressure on the VND exchange rate in 2026.
Besides favorable macroeconomic factors, the event of FTSE officially upgrading the Vietnamese market to the secondary emerging market group (effective from September 2026) is considered an important milestone, supporting the anticipation of a large amount of foreign capital pouring into the stock market. With this synergy, VNDirect believes that the net selling momentum of foreign investors will soon end, giving way to a strong net buying return trend in 2026.
Dr. Nguyen Duy Phuong, Investment Director of DG Capital, said that the fact that the Vietnamese stock market is getting closer to the effective date of the upgrade is a very important milestone, especially in the context that global investment funds are increasingly allocating capital based on indicators. It is estimated that when officially upgraded, the market may receive passive and active capital flows with a scale of 6-8 billion USD.
However, upgrading the stock market is only one step in the long-term roadmap to further develop Vietnam's capital market. A real turning point in attracting international capital will come when Vietnam's national credit rating is upgraded to "Investment Grade".
These are necessary conditions for the market to enter a new stage of development. International capital flows are only truly sustainable when the market meets higher standards of transparency, corporate governance and product structure," Dr. Phuong stated his point of view.
